Vietnamese gang jailed for £4m hash haul

THESE Vietnamese villains masterminded a £4m dope dynasty. The Far Eastern Mr Bigs moved into houses on Tyneside’s most exclusive estates, alongside professional footballers and high-flying professionals.

During the operation – codenamed Attero – police were led not only to the makeshift drug factories but to so-called “barrack” addresses where the crooks at the top of the food chain lived with their families.

Among those raided were a detached, £750,000 bungalow in Darras Hall, Ponteland, opposite the home of Toon legend Alan Shearer, and two £400,000 detached properties on Newcastle’s Great Park estate.

It was on the Great Park that gang leader Fang Dang Pham – aka Gia Khanh Pham – lived, on Warkworth Woods, with several others.

Pham, 45, admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis and was jailed for seven years, while Kim Thuy Thi Le, 39, admitted the possession of a false passport and was given 40 weeks. Also picked up at Warkworth Woods were Trin Thuan Vam – aka Sy Le – who is 28 and was sentenced to four years, along with Hai Chien Nguyen, 38. They were described as “managers” in the conspiracy.

At the Runneymede Road address, William Tran – aka Thanh Tien Vu who is 26, was arrested and also got four years.

At the time of the raids, farms were found at Callerton Place, Arthur’s Hill, Fenham Hall Drive, two at Brighton Grove, Powburn Gardens and Weidner Road, all Fenham.

Others were discovered in Barnesbury Road and Dipton Avenue Canning Street and Clifton Road, all Benwell. There was another busted in Chestnut Avenue, Cowgate, and one in Sycamore Grove in Springwell, Gateshead.

“This operation has successfully dismantled a significant criminal organisation but we are not complacent and we will continue to act on information received from local people to address the issues our communities tell us are of most concern.”

Prosecutor Lee Crozier said: “We believe the gang invested about £1.3m setting up these farms, with the projected first crop expected to net them more than £2m.”